The Eight Chapters of Maimonides on Ethics - Shemonah Perakim: A Psychological And Ethical Treatise

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A physician wrote, The discipline of analytical thought processes [in mathematics] prepared me extremely well for medical school. In medicine one is faced with a problem which must be thoroughly analyzed before a solution can be found. The process is similar to doing mathematics.’ Cf. H. Deot, "VI, 1, "The natural disposition of the human mind occasions man to be influenced in his opinions and actions by those with whom he associates, and his conduct to be dependent on that of his friends and countrymen".

I think I've said enough, and you know what? Why should I be the only one to suffer through this? Why not give it a gander? Cod. 71. Pirke Avoth seu Capitula patrum cum Comm. Maimonidis ejusque praefat; memb. rabb. in 4° in Sec. XV. Cod. 63. Maḥzor . . . item Pirke Aboth cum com. Maimonidis membr. rabb. in 4° min. Sec. XV. M.'s com. in Pirke Avoth quem in Machazorim passim, addi supra animadvertimus, est ex Hebr. versione R. Samuelis Aben Tibbon. Occurrunt etiam ejusdem M. octo Perakim seu capita.

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In commenting on the tractate Abot, Maimonides had abundant opportunity to make use of his knowledge of Greek philosophy and particularly of Aristotelian ethics. To this tractate he prefixed an introduction of eight chapters, outlining in a general way a system of ethics based mainly on Aristotle's Nichomachean Ethics, [19] which Maimonides harmonized with rabbinical teachings. This introduction constitutes the most remarkable instance in medieval ethical literature of the harmonious welding of Jewish religious belief and tradition with Greek philosophy. John Gottman is basically a love guru. He has studied thousands of relationships, and after several decades of clinical observation and study, he can predict with 97% accuracy if a couple will stay together or divorce. I was expecting good things from Eight Dates, and boy did it deliver. The book is divided into eight sections, one for each date. The dates cover eight of the most meaningful, important, and, often, contentious topics that couples deal with: trust and commitment, conflict, sex, money, family, fun and adventure, growth and spirituality, and dreams. Before the dates are introduced, an intro gives characteristics of successful marriages, as well as advice on how to have an intimate conversation and how to listen.

Lichtenstein (Abraham ben Eliezer). ספר הין צדק ותיקון המדות מיוסד על ח״ פרקי רבינו משה בר מיימון זצוק״ל‎. Wilna, 1799. ווילנא (תקנט)‎. 4°. (Contains only chapters I–V.) The rational part is the power peculiar to man by which he understands, thinks, acquires knowledge, and discriminates between proper and improper actions. This manifold activity of the rational part is both practical and speculative. The practical activities are partly mechanical ( מלאכת מחשבת‎) and partly intellectual. The speculative activities are the powers of man by which he knows things which, by their nature, are not ​subject to change. These are called the sciences. The mechanical power is that by which man learns the arts, as that of architecture, agriculture, medicine, or navigation. The intellectual power is that by which man reflects upon the possibility or manner of doing an intended action. The soul, which is a unit, but which has many powers or parts, bears the same relation to the intellect ( השכל‎) as matter does to form. Falkenheim, S. Die Ethik des Maimonides oder Schemoneh Perakim; deutsch bearbeit. Konigsberg, 1832. 8°.

The five most common subjects that couples fight about are money, sex, in-laws, alcohol or drug use, and parenting. Ibn Tibbon translated Maimonides’ Commentary on Abot, including its introductory chapters, the Peraḳim, at the request of the men of Lünel, [67] who were presumably convinced of his capabilities by what Maimonides thought of him. All that has been said of Ibn Tibbon as a translator of the Moreh is true generally of his work on the Peraḳim. As in the Moreh, he sacrificed style for the sake of accuracy, and so, on the whole, translated with great literalness, very often word for word. Wherever he has to any marked degree departed from the original, the fact has been mentioned in the notes. As an instance of the care he exercised in turning the Arabic into Hebrew, we may point to his rendering the Arabic phrase אללהם אלא‎, meaning “unless indeed,” into the Hebrew אלהים אם לא‎, which very naturally gave rise to a misreading, [68] or, where preserved correctly, was unintelligible save to those who were acquainted with the Arabic idiom. This shows the justice of Munk’s criticism. Wherever Ibn Tibbon was uncertain of the translation of an Arabic word, which might be rendered by one of two Hebrew words, his usual custom was to put one in the text and the other in the margin. These variants came afterwards into the text. In regard to the Moreh, he relied upon the advice of Maimonides as to which should be eventually used. [69] It seems, however, that he did not consult Maimonides in reference to the Shemonah Peraḳim, and consequently at obscure points introduced glosses, noted by the expression “that is to say” ( כלומר‎), or “I mean” ( ר״ל‎), or “the explanation of” ( פי׳‎). An instance of this is seen in Chapter II, where, after the words “as moderation” ( כזהירות‎), there is added the phrase “that is to say, fear of sin” ( כלומר ירא חטא‎). [70] For the rendering into Hebrew of the Commentary on Abot and its introduction commonly called שמונה פרקים‎ (The Eight ​Chapters), Samuel ibn Tibbon, who was at work on the translation of the Moreh, was eminently fitted. The Shemonah Peraḳim have always been widely read among the Jews and students of the philosophy of Maimonides on account of their simplicity of style and subject matter, and no less on account of their accessibility, being found in all editions of the Mishnah and Talmud [20] that contain Maimonides' commentary, in a number of Maḥzorim, [21] especially of the Roman and Greek ritual, and also in various separate editions. [22] Their popularity is evidenced by the fact that they have been translated into Latin, French, Dutch, English, and many times into German. [23] The Arabic title is כתאב אלסראג̇‎ ( ספר המאור‎, Book of Illumination), which, however, as Steinschneider ( Arab. Lit., p. 200) and Geiger ( Moses ben Maimon, p. 82, n. 31) maintain, hardly originated with Maimonides. I will say there were a few new skills gained, and the MC has leveled up to erm let's see now... to level 1. Yep, level 1 at Chap 24. Nuff said.

For a detailed account of the translators and translations of the Commentary on the Mishnah, see HUb., pp. 923–926; Arab. Lit., pp. 201–202.You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27-40, which are based on the Reading Passage below. Good deeds are such as are equibalanced, [2] maintaining the mean between two equally bad extremes, the too much and the ​ too little. [3] Virtues are psychic conditions and dispositions which are mid-way between two reprehensible extremes, one of which is characterized by an exaggeration, the other by a deficiency. [4] Good deeds are the product of these dispositions. To illustrate, abstemiousness is a disposition which adopts a mid-course between inordinate passion and total insensibility to pleasure. Abstemiousness, then, is a proper rule of conduct, and the psychic disposition which gives rise to it is an ethical quality; but inordinate passion, the extreme of excess, and total insensibility to enjoyment, the extreme of deficiency [5], are both absolutely pernicious. The psychic dispositions, from which these two extremes, inordinate passion and insensibility, result—the one being an exaggeration, the other a deficiency—are alike classed among moral imperfections. Eighty-percent of married couples have sex at least a few times a month. Of those, 32% have sex 2 to 3 times a week. The nutritive part of the soul has seven powers, or properties: (1) the power of attraction ( המושך‎); (2) the power of retention ( המחזיק‎); (3) the power of digestion ( המעכל‎); (4) the power of repelling superfluities ( הדוחה למותרות‎); (5) the power of growth ( המגדל‎); (6) the power of propagation ( המוליד בדומה‎), and (7) the power of differentiation between the nutritive humors ( ליחות‎) and those to be repelled.

In the Moreh, which appeared at least twenty-five years after the Com. on the Mishnah, there are twelve or more references to the latter, four of which are to the Peraḳim. See Moreh, I, 39; III, 35 (twice), 48. Scheyer, in Das psychologische System des Maimonides (Frankfurt a. M., 1845), which he designated as an introduction to the Moreh, draws largely from the Peraḳim, and constantly refers to them in the notes. See especially Chaps. I, II, and IV. Munk, in the notes in his Guide, refers a number of times to the Mish. Com., many of these being to the Peraḳim. In Vol. I, p. 210, n. 1, he quotes at length from Peraḳim I on the rational faculty, and on p. 232, n. 1, from Peraḳim VIII on the attributes of God. Other references are found in Vol. I, p. 125, n. 2, to Peraḳim II (the classification of the virtues); p. 286, n. 3, to Peraḳim VIII (miracles); p. 355, n. 1, to Peraḳim I (the faculties); p. 400, n. 2, to Peraḳim I (the theory of imagination of the Mutakallimun); etc.Shortly after Ibn Tibbon translated the Moreh, Jehudah al-Ḥarizi, the poet, was asked by a number of scholars to do the same work. This, of course, implied that Ibn Tibbon's rendering was not satisfactory to them. They wished al-Ḥarizi to ​translate the Moreh in a simple, clear and polished style, as the version of Ibn Tibbon, being literal, was necessarily heavy. Al-Ḥarizi prefixed to his work two introductions, one containing an alphabetical list of "strange words," and the other, the contents of each chapter. It is fortunate for Ibn Tibbon that al-Ḥarizi, too, did the same work, for a comparison shows the marked superiority and excellence of Ibn Tibbon's translation. In his Glossary of Strange Words, which he later prefixed to the Moreh, Ibn Tibbon rightfully shows the many errors and shortcomings of the translation of al-Ḥarizi, who might be a good poet, but who showed his ignorance when he attempted to deal with scientific matters. [56] On the one hand, they are cool credits! And it’s great to get more opportunities to listen to Morricone’s music; however, there is a dark, final punchline: Netflix automatically jumps away from closing credits and skips the opening unless you tell it not to. So these added minutes, if you want to experience them, don’t even occur naturally.